(i am) nuts

there is something really awesome about starting your day with a breakfast of homemade bread toasted and topped with vietnamese cinnamon and homemade almond butter.  yummmm

why am i telling you this?  because not only is it delicious, but also because i made almond butter for the first time yesterday and it was so quick and easy that it took me more time to clean the food processor.

so if you're interested, go get 2 cups of almonds (or whatever nut you like best) and put them in your food processor--like this:

then turn on the food processor for a minute or two and you'll get this:

scrape down the sides and let it run for another minute or two and then go ahead and put it in an airtight container (like so...):

i think we can all agree on two things--1, i'm obviously not a photographer, and 2--that's super simple.  right??!

i will add that i would use raw almonds next time--i used dry roasted with salt and it's a bit salty for my taste but that's all i had in the house.

so go ahead and grab your nuts and make something delicious...;)

valentine's day, how i heart you

this COULD be a ranting post about how it's absolutely ridiculous that numerous people feel the need to give my kids candy and chocolate just because it's a "special" day.  this COULD be a ranting post about how i think it's really awful that my kid goes to gymnastics, which i thought was a place that promoted healthy living, from 5:30pm-6:30pm (i.e. dinner time) and upon leaving is presented with not one, not two, but FIVE junk food items (including cookies, donuts and rice krispies treats) right before dinner.  this COULD be a ranting post about how it's not really fair for my five year old to have to make the decision about whether she should eat that crap before she's had her dinner (or at all for that matter).  this COULD be a ranting post about how kids don't need to get a "treat" for every little "holiday" or even "just because"--but that if someone DOES feel the need to treat my kid, perhaps a sticker, or a pencil, or a fun eraser or ANYTHING other than food (a term i use rather loosely as many of these "treats" can hardly be considered food) would be a much more acceptable option.

this COULD be a post about all of those things, but it's not.

it's a fairy tale post.  about how i brought in fruit to a school party for M's class, and when the kids were told they could choose two things from items such as two kinds of cupcakes and cookies, and fruit, THEY CHOSE FRUIT!!!!  

maybe it's because the fruit looked like this:

because, let's face it--that's damn cute, ain't it??!  but no matter--i made extras and they were ALL gone!  and there were cupcakes and cookies still left over!  and i even saw kids--who were told that yes, they could go up for seconds--get up and get seconds...OF FRUIT!!

seriously, it was like a dream come true.  because i admit that i was a little nervous that i was going to be seen as "that" mom--you know, the one who brings fruit to party on a day that's "supposed" to be filled with chocolate and candies made red with chemical dyes.  but those kids chose the naturally red colored food i brought and i swear my heart grew like the grinch's.

and they all lived happily (and naturally) ever after...;)

and as a ps, here's a gift i made for my cheese/valentine's day-loving husband:

that's right, folks--no chocolate for my man--that's a box of cheese.  and for the other cheese lovers out there, please know that no cheeses were harmed (i.e. wasted) in the making of this box--any and all scraps were saved for cheese loving man.

happy valentine's day, everyone :)

avocados--they're not just for guac anymore

ok, i know i said i'd regale you with tales of a candy-free valentine's day, but first i need to share two awesome avocado recipes that i tried tonight.

this one is a favorite in our house--and goes perfectly with homemade pasta :)  i use lime juice instead of lemon (personal preference), and less than the recipe calls for (more like a couple squeezes instead of the whole 1/2).  plus i hate anything with zest so i leave that out.  i leave out the basil, too, unless i have some in the house.  tonight i tossed it with homemade pasta, roasted cherry tomatoes, and crumbled goat cheese--so yummy!

and this--oh my!  first, don't adjust any settings--the page you get to by clicking on that link really is for chocolate AVOCADO pudding.  second, if you don't have any avocados in your house, go out and get some.  yes, it's that good.  i'll admit that M took a few bites and decided she didn't like it, but she doesn't like much so unless she DOES like something, i don't count her vote ;)  (incidentally, she ate every strand of homemade spaghetti, so clearly i'm a whiz at pasta making ;) ).  B gobbled every bit and asked for some in her lunch for school tomorrow.  i thought it was delish, and it was super easy to throw together.  so i'm considering it a success--and you should try it :)

so go get some avocados, with which you can enjoy both dinner and dessert--and then we'll talk about how valentine's day can be fun even without added sugar and chemical dyes, k?

absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?!

soooo, it's been a while.

the last time i was here i started writing a post about halloween--but i never finished it because it was mostly just me bitching about how halloween becomes a free-for-all for people to shower my children with junk food.  and now i find myself bitching about valentine's day so i thought i'd start another, hopefully less snarky, post ;)

i'll use this post to bring you all (bueller?  bueller?) up to date on what i've been up to, and then i'll post another one ranting about valentine's day ;)

so first of all, back around halloween i decided that if people were going to bring food to M's school halloween party, i would provide at least one "real" food option.  so i made these pumpkin muffins and dressed them up like so:

cute, huh?  thanks again, pinterest!

then for thanksgiving (well, pseudo-thanksgiving--my side of the family was going to be in a bunch of different places for real thanksgiving, so we decided to do it early) i used a loaf of the pumpkin bread from above (i had doubled it when i made the muffins) and made this awesome stuffing.

and for the record, i made my own pumpkin puree.  i only mention this because you should all know how incredibly easy this is to do.  this is how easy.  try it--trust me.  i used a less-than-4lb pumpkin and got about 4 cups of puree.  i freeze what i don't use in one cup containers so i can thaw what i need.

and for hanukkah, my wonderful husband got me pasta attachments for our kitchenaid--which, by the way, i had never used in almost 8 years of marriage!  so with my very own hands i made this pasta:

and turned it into this dinner:

which, just to toot my own horn, my husband said was--and i quote--"Honestly the best spaghetti I have ever had"

and i made these raviolis too:

which looked pretty and tasted ok but not great--they're on my list to try again.

so there you have it--a quick snapshot of the goings-on in my kitchen for the last few months.  now stay tuned for how i'm going to piss off 21 kindergartners by serving fruit instead of candy for valentine's day ;)